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A Theory on the Shadow Isles and it's Champions

Here's how I'm going to organize this: I'm going to start off with my general history of it and then delve into all of the Champions associated directly with the Shadow Isles.

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So we start off 1000ish years ago, with the ruler (the Ruined King (RK), his title AFTER the events I'm about to describe) of an island kingdom/province (what would become the Shadow Isles) and at least two nobles: the husband and wife "Lord" and "Lady" (the two spirits of the altars). The RK is fascinated with the magic of necromancy, and so preforms all manner of experiments with it in his castle. This goes well for many years, but then the Lord and Lady (powerful magi themselves) learn of what their king is doing and begin a civil war to put a stop to it. Battle rages, and awakens/create a number of evil creatures (the Spider God) but with their considerable power the Ruined King and his General(s) Mordekaiser and Hecarim finally win through and kill the two.

Unfortunately, the civil war and usage of necromancy and general arcane magics have their downside. Just as the arcane magic of the Rune Wars nearly tore Valoran apart, so too did the magic used in this war threaten to tear the Isle apart. However, there is a twist to this; as the arcane magic of the Lord and Lady and their followers seeped into the earth, it combined with the necromantic magic of the RK, Mordekaiser, and their group. This results in a poisoning of the land, which turns it into the unholy Shadow Isles

The Ruined King, by this time, is a very powerful necromancer, and entire army being made of the soul and corpses of his fallen enemies, and in order to continue to bind their powers to his service (the rulers of the island are powerful in their own right) he seals the souls of the husband and wife in a pair of altars. They have JUST that much free will left because of their inherit powers as magi, but they have slowly, over time, lost themselves to their prisons (the spirits of the two don't remember this themselves because, just as they began to forget each other, they have also lost memories of what they did in their life, this would also account for the line "For the King!&quot.

However, it is at this point that Mordekaiser betrays the Ruined King and kills him (hence him being "ruined&quot. With his last vestiges of life, the RK curses Morde and seals him inside of his own armor. It is possible he is still around somewhere (if he WAS such a powerful necromancer) but for all intensive purposes Morde claims all of the King's army as his own. Even with his power weakened by his current state, though, Morde's power is still mighty enough to let him maintain his minions, call more when need be, and rule over the island (keeping things like the Spider God at bay).

Hecarim, a Centaur warlord of another land, dies in battle sometime later and, due to the now-reeking power of the necromantic magics hazing the island his soul is drawn there. Morde/the Ruined King (depending on the time of his arrival/alliance) makes a deal with Hec. Hec himself has developed (or maybe always had) considerable magic post-death (similar to how Yorick is suddenly able to call ghouls, despite being just a gravedigger in life) and he and Morde agree that they will combine their powers and forces (Hecarim's undead centaur/mounted warrior army, visible in his ultimate) in order to conquer the world, both (either Morde of the RK) being very power-hungry and war-mongering.

Before Mordekasier can lead the army he controls, however, he needs to be free of his armor to reach his full power, and Hecarim will help him with this; what Hec does not know is that the moment Morde is free, he will have enough power to enslave the Shadow of War (based on the altar's warning to Hecarim) and intends to do so (just as he betrayed the Ruined King). It could also be that Hecarim and his centaur brethren (the ghosts of his ultimate) were merely natives of the Shadow Isles as well, and sided with the Ruined King either before or after his/their death(s).

Yorick also reaches the Shadow Isles around some point, and makes a deal with the two (or one or the other) that they will help him reach his true afterlife if he assist them (by making more dead for their armies, based on the altar's command).

Alternatively:

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The same lore as before applies, but the Ruined King is in command instead of the Lord and Lady, and Mordekaiser leads his necromantic rebellion against the lot of them. He kills the RK (hence him being "ruined&quot and binds the souls of the Lord and Lady in the altars. See the end of this post for further information.

Morde could easily be a normal person from the isles or a necromancer who had been lurking in the shadows, but the armor, and in my theory he had always been wearing the armor, lends me to think that he was a general or knight that lived on the island. Greedy with power he studied necromancy in order to claim the Isles for himself, he continues to serve the Ruined King, seeing necromancy as his way of doing so, and achieves incredible power of the spirit realm. What happened to him was stated above.

His current goal is simple: find a way to free himself of his armor so that he can be at 100% strength again. And, given his newest backstory, he seems to know what and where the item, or spell, he is looking for can be found

Yorick:

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Yorick was a gravedigger in life not on the Shadow Isles but instead on the Valoran mainland (as it is only after his return to the mainland that he fails to find his cemetery). This mean he likely died a long time in the past, and his cemetery collapsed into the sea and his body washed upon onto the Shadow Isles (or the Isles themselves can even draw corpses to it).

He seems unaffiliated with the Shadow Isles, but the altars seems to suggest that he has been assigned by someone on the Isles - potentially Morde or Hecarim (or maybe even the Ruined King) - to kill more people to raise a larger army. He likely does this because of the above mentioned deal with Morde/Hec.

Karthus:

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He seems pretty straightforward; a disturbing individual obsessed with death. Now, in the final lines of his backstory he seems intent on spreading his undeath to everyone else, which means he is likely unaffiliated with Morde or Hecarim. Still, doing so would further their goals.

Hecarim:

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As I said above; Hecarim was most likely a creature of another land, like Olaf, that's soul was drawn to the Shadow Isles after death; given that there are no other centaurs mentioned to be on Valoran. Pretty much everything else I could say about him is up there; he's a war-mongering leader who want to bring conflict to the world and works with Morde to do it.

Elise:

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There's been a lot of debate over why Elise joined the League in the first place, what with her cult and all giving her what she needed. I think I have a theory on that and her history with the Isles:

Elise goes to the Isles, and is taken in by it and the Spider God/demigod (who knows that Morde will enslave him as well, should he get the chance) as a means of protection. However, Elise is too cunning and, upon the creation of the Twisted Treeline in the Isles (known to the champions and a few civilians, but most don't want to believe (who would want to believe that there is an island filled with the living dead?)) she is able to harvest his venom for her immortality and power; so she no longer needs her cult (to travel to the Isles and sacrifice to the Spider God for venom) and she no longer needs her human guise (which is why she does not mind flaunting her true form in the League).

Evelynn:

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This is a big one, so bare with me:

There is a rumor about her history that always evokes a response from her; that she was the product of magical abuse as a child. Now, if one were to follow my theory as well as assume she IS from the Shadow Isles (which she neither confirms or denies);

She was the daughter of the Ruined King (or even the Lord and Lady of the Isles, which could provide reasoning for their quick rise to civil war) of the Shadow Isles before Morde's hostile takeover. He exposed her to magic energies - either directly via experimentation or indirectly as he used their magic for other purposes (such as the war) - and slowly transformed her into the creature she is now.

Following Morde's takeover of the Isle she went into hiding, using her vamparic powers to survive with her newfound powers, and, via being undead or simply immortal because of the magic mutation she was exposed to, she lived this long to join the League.

This theory would account for two things:

Firstly, it would tie her to the Shadow Isles, which she seems to be from.

And Secondly it accounts for why she would be mustering influence; she wants her parent's lands back. Once the "shizz hits the fan" and Hecarim and Morde turn on each other and are either subdued by another force or tear each other apart, she'll be able to use that influence to reclaim her father/parent’s property.

So, in short; Mordekaiser rules the island, Hecarim and him have a plot to rule the world, Morde intends to backstab the centaur the moment he is free of his binds, Yorick is a poor soul indebted to greater masters, Karthus is simply out to bathe the world in death, Elise is in it for her own personal immortality, and Evelynn wants her land back after the final showdown between Morde and Hec.

Tell me what you think! I've gotten some good feedback from the people I've shared these thoughts with already.

EDIT: Damnit, I wish I could edit the title to get that apostrophe out...

ORIGINAL GENERAL HISTORY:

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So we start off 1000ish years ago, with the husband and wife rulers (the two spirits of the altars) of an island kingdom/province (what would become the Shadow Isles). It's all good, but then Mordekaiser - a human of some kind at this point - begins a rebellion to control of the island himself. Battle rages, and awakens a number of evil creatures (the Spider God) but with his considerable power Mordekaiser finally wins through and kills the rulers.

Mordekaiser is a powerful necromancer, his entire army being made of the soul and corpses of his fallen enemies, and in order to continue to bind their powers to his service (the rulers of the island are powerful in their own right) he seals the souls of the husband and wife in a pair of altars.

However, as said, the rulers of the island were powerful magi a well; and with their last bits of free will bind Mordekaiser within his armor; limiting his power (the spirits of the two don't remember this themselves because, just as they began to forget each other, they have also lost memories of what they did in their life). Even with this, though, Morde's power is still mighty enough to let him maintain his minions, call more when need be, and rule over the island (keeping things like the Spider God at bay).

Hecarim, a Centaur warlord of another land, dies in battle sometime later and, due to the now-reeking power of the necromantic magics hazing the island his soul is drawn there. Morde makes a deal with Hec, Hec himself has developed (or maybe always had) considerable magic post-death (similar to how Yorick is suddenly able to call ghouls, despite being just a gravedigger in life) and he and Morde agree that they will combine their powers and forces (Hecarim's undead centaur/mounted warrior army, visible in his ultimate) in order to conquer the world, both being very power-hungry and war-mongering.

However, first Mordekasier needs to be free of his armor to reach his full power, and Hecarim will help him with this; what Hec does not know is that the moment Morde is free; he will have enough power to enslave the Shadow of War (based on the altar's warning to Hecarim). Yorick also reaches the Shadow Isles around some point, and makes a deal with the two (or one or the other) that they will help him reach his true afterlife if he assists them (by making more dead for their armies, based on the altar's command).

and if they ever truly tried to take over
yorick wouldn't let it happen
he seems to neutral,
and i suppose he has to keep some balance in life and death,

This theory makes some sense, given that he CAN summon his ghouls (so there's a chance he can summon other spirits we're not seeing him use in-game) BUT there is a problem in that not only is he, as you said, apparently neutral to everything, but there is nothing that even seems to suggest he leads an army - the altars only suggest he recruits them. I also don't think he has the power to stop Morde or Hec - lore-wise, he just doesn't seem nearly as strong as either of them.

You present good points here, and I like what you've done with the Morde/Hec relationship - it seems to compliment the lore and their in-game tidbits thusfar. Karthus (though I disapprove of his retcon and new lore) seems adequate as well, just some schizophrenic nutter who's in it to sate his bloodlust. Likewise, your theory on Elise is solid - though I believe she's probably made a pact with Morde and/or Hec for control of the Spider God in return for her willing service - and Evelynn, though it's possible that her vampirism is simply a byproduct of her lineage (maybe her parents were vampires/had vampiric abilities themselves). Yorick, on the other hand, is another matter.

His arrival on the Shadow Isles must've had something to do with his mausoleum's disappearance, and it's completely possible that it may have been washed out to sea, carrying his corpse to the desolate island. His ability to summon ghouls, however, is most likely due to the magics which envelop his trademark weapon - his lore describes the item as being "imbued with the spirit of every forefather", likely meaning Yorick's ancestors, the Mori family. Though powerful in the League, on the Shadow Isles he was given menial (though invaluable) labor to perform day in, day out. His judgement has him meshing each face of his next corpse together in his mind, so that he has forgotten everything of himself. We can assume from this that he's just working the graveyard shift (*pun intended*) in the Shadow Isles' recruitment facility, burying the bodies to give them new life as soldiers for Morde or Hec's army. His power comes from the fact that he realizes he still has free will, to a certain degree - he leaves the Shadow Isles to find his corpse, realizes nothing is there, and falls into desperation ('til he finds the League and, with it, meaning in his utterly meaningless unlife).

And what about Maokai? His story doesn't make sense anymore. I'm guessing that he is now going to be older, in that he was one of the trees on the Shadow Isles from before it became the Shadow Isles? But his in-game VO implies that he has became conscious relatively recently... which is an aspect about him that I like. I'm kind of upset that his lore will have to be changed, because it is excellent now. I dont want him to be a casualty of the Twisted Treeline rework, but I can't imagine that his lore isn't going to become convoluted.

I reckon it'd be cool if in the lore the old TT map had been decommissioned with the new one being its replacement in part so that the League could have a greater presence in the Shadow Isles to find out what kind of threat it posed. It'd be better than the straight retcon that's happening, Maokai and Nocturnes lores wouldn't need changing or anything!